In April of 2008 the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) televised a show called "Blood, Sweat, & T-Shirts". It is now showing in the U.S. on the Planet Green channel.

The show is about six snotty young Britishers who think it it will be "rad" go to India to find out what working in a garment sweatshop is all about. Their first workplace was in New Delhi at Shahi Enterprises — known as one of the best garment factories to work at in India. If that is the best place to work you wonder what working for a real sweatshop is like — and those Brits find out.

As with most reality TV, some of the scenes came across as slightly contrived. Like for instance, their Indian factory floor boss had a tough time holding back from laughing as he ordered the young Brits around, but make no mistake about it, that guy is mean and tough and you just know he isn't nearly as nice to his regular workers.

I highly recommend the show because it's thought provoking and amusing. The preview on Planet Green is better than the one on BBC. The toilet scene is a classic!

Here are some excellent links:

Mail Online: "Why six British youngsters will never buy high street fashion again after visiting India's sweatshops."

Perhaps the one profound thing said in the entire show was from Georgina:

"You see all the Indian people working so hard and being paid so little for it, and it makes you feel so ashamed."

Yes, we should all feel ashamed, but not necessarily for the obvious reason the producers of the show would lead us to: that the solution to the exploitation is "fair trade" instead of "free trade". Brits and Americans should feel ignominy for allowing their leaders to turn their own countries into hellholes like India!

A second episode of the show aired on the BBC about the experiences of the young Brits when they go to the real sweatshops. Green Planet hasn't scheduled the second show.